


Lorem Ipsum

by gaylie



Category: Underfell - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game), underswap
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Mental Abuse, Panic Attacks, Physical Abuse, Rape, Sexual Abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, Underfell AU, Underswap AU, Vomit, non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-17 07:55:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8136236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie
Summary: In which the swapbros should've probably done more research before hopping into a different dimension.But what is the worst that can happen, right?Looks a lot like they're about to find out.





	1. The Cool Shed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't look at me and my 6 on-going fanfictions. I have many ideas and no self control.  
> I really wanted to write a really abuse-heavy fic, though, because heck man.
> 
> If you want me to clear up this monstrous mountain of shipping tags a bit I'm gonna explain it here quickly, but you can also just let yourself get surprised, if you want that, then stop reading this authors note now:
> 
> It's mainly going to be Swap!Pap/Swap!Sans/Fell!Sans polyamory, pretty much the rest is noncon lmao
> 
> enjoy

They should've known what the risk that they took was, but they didn't. Years- no, _centuries_ stuck underground made them become foolish, and the second Dr. W.D. Gaster came up with a theory and then a plan to bypass the barrier and break free, they _had_ to go through with it.

It wasn't just foolish, it was nearby insane to just assume the void simply worked the way they had wanted it to. They wanted to use it to travel through space without the material or magical obstacles from their dimension. Open a portal leading to it, follow directions, then open up a portal back to their dimension outside of the barrier. The only problem was, that they had expected the void to merely act as a layer of their own dimension, rather than a space-holder between multiple, many dimensions.

As soon as Dr. Gaster had come up with the plan, though, he needed to go through with it. Fatal errors in his theories were unthinkable of to him. So he needed volunteers. And his volunteers were both of his sons.

"We should be almost there!" Sans spoke excitedly, his voice echoing strangely through the void. They had been following a map, although that was a lot harder in a dimension of only empty space. But a lot of counting steps made them manage. At least Sans did, while Papyrus was mostly lazily tagging along. He could've easily passed up on that whole ordeal and instead taken a nap or something, but there was no way in hell he was going to let his little brother venture through the void alone.

"Here we are!" Sans announced with an excited clap of his gloved hands. "Got the portal device, Papy?"  
"aw shoot, i knew i forgot something back at the lab," Papyrus drawled, lazily stuffing a hand into his hoodie pocket.

Sans gasped aghast. "Papy!!"  
"heh. relax, relax." Papyrus laughed, drawing the small portal gun out of his pocket. "was just messin' with ya. now gold on tight."

If the portal leading out of the void would be anything like the one leading into it, it would have a pretty strong force of attraction, causing them to probably get sucked into it. So to not lose each other, the two of them took each other by the hand, signaling with a nod that they were ready. Papyrus activated the portal gun.

Just as expected, the second the portal opened both of the skeletons lost their footing, getting sucked towards the opening. They weren't scared per se, but it was still a dreadful experience, and the second they found themselves falling through space and time, the two brothers clung onto each other. The portal closed up neatly behind them as they fell heavily into the snow.

"oof," Papyrus gasped as Sans landed on top of him split seconds later. The smaller skeleton yelped surprised.

"Oh gosh, are you okay Papy!?" He asked worried as he sat up from atop of his brother. Papyrus sat up, too, looking around a bit. Peculiar.

"yea 'm fine, bro," he muttered absently. They were supposed to land a few steps past the barrier. At best, if following their directions wrong, they should've come out somewhere in the castle or New Home. Yet, wherever they landed looked a whole lot like Snowdin forest.

"Wow Papy! Looks like there's snow on the surface, too!" Sans said excitedly, once he noticed the way Papyrus was glancing and shifting around. Papyrus shook his head, though.

"don't think we're on the surface," he said, pointing up the 'sky.' "cave ceiling."

Sans gazed up, his grin deflating for a moment. "Oh... so... we didn't make it?"

"afraid not."

Obviously, Papyrus was disappointed, too. They had hoped to free monsterkind that day, or at least make a huge step forward in doing so. Yet they made, quite literally, more of a step backwards.

But no _matter_ how disappointed Papyrus was, Sans _always_ seemed optimistic. He didn't expect the small ball of hope to suddenly stare up at the skyless ceiling with so much remorse. It wrecked his heart.

"hey, bro, don't worry!" Papyrus said quickly, wrapping his arms around his brother and pulling him close into an embrace. Sans squeaked surprised, but didn't complain. "'s alright. 's just one small mistake. hey c'mon! you can't improve without getting failures every once in a while, right?"

Sans nodded against his chest, but didn't seem quite convinced. Sighing, Papyrus left a small peck on the top of Sans' skull.  
"c'mon sansy, don't be upset. we'll just tell gas what happened and he'll figure it out. we'll get through that damned barrier in no time."  
Sans sucked in a deep breath, but then nodded. "You are right, brother!" He said, trying to look more optimistic again. It was still missing that glint in his eyes, though, Papyrus could tell. But at least he was trying.  
"alright man. so whaddya say? shall we head right back to the lab or check by muffet's first?"  
"Papy!!! You know I can't eat that sugary stuff! Let's just get back to the lab."  
Papyrus chuckled gently, but he agreed. Sans got up first, offering a hand to Papyrus to help him up. Dr. Gaster had forbidden them to teleport right after or before going through the void, since he figured Papyrus' 'shortcuts' most likely went through the void, too. So they had to walk back. They'd just take the ferry once they arrived in Snowdin.

Papyrus had to note, though, that something about the forest just seemed... _off._ He couldn't exactly pinpoint what. He thought maybe the snow was a tad duller. A tad grayer. But that couldn't be, right? He was probably just imagining things. And it was _always_ this quiet around that area. Not a lot of monsters resided here, so why was that silence suddenly... freaking him out so much?

Frankly, all things considered, he probably _shouldn't_ have missed the way the small fence over the bridge leading to his sentry station suddenly had barb wire on it, but he did. In his defense, sometimes the most obvious things are the ones you miss.

What he didn't miss, however, was the way the second he passed through the gate he felt something restricting him. A strange force pulling him to the ground, not very unlike his blue magic. Except it wasn't _just that_ , it was also that in the little seconds it happened, he noticed he couldn't move _at all_ anymore, and a piercing, burning pain started to spread through his body, coming from his soul. He almost couldn't hear the way Sans cried out his name, through his own agonized scream.

Both of them passed out.

 

"Papy! Thank god, you're awake!"

He really was, wasn't he? Papyrus groaned as he blinked up at Sans' face hovering above him. He could hardly register the things he saw or heard right now. He couldn't at all tell where he was or why he was there. His body hurt. He felt sore.

"where...-" he began, but noticed quickly just _how sore_ his throat felt. "ugh, bro...? could you, uh... bring me a cup of water?" He croaked weakly, not expecting the confused stare he got from his brother. Sans looked at him almost as if he were crazy. Then he raised his hands into Papyrus view, chains clinking a bit with the movement. He was handcuffed.

"Not really, brother, no. I'm sorry."

Immediately Papyrus sat up straight, his back leaning against a wall. He shook Sans a bit with the movement, but the small skeleton kept balance.

"w-what happened!?" He asked, wanting to reach out for his brother, only to find that he had been handcuffed, too. "oh lord, oh god, _where_ are we?"

"I-I don't know...?" Sans stuttered, suddenly frightened. Oh christ, Papyrus was freaking him out.

"shit, uh. relax. what... uh, do you remember what happened?"

"Yes! I do." The younger brother replied, more forceful again. Papyrus sighed. Sans always seemed to feel better by being in some way useful. "The portal from the void lead us back to Snowdin forest." Oh, he remembered that part now. "And when we passed the gate I build to keep away humans, I..." Sans paused. He seemed uncomfortable. "I-I don't know what happened, but it hurt a lot... I heard you scream and then I passed out."

Papyrus let out a loud groan, startling Sans a little. Christ, he remembered now. And _god_ did he wish he didn't. And even more did he wish _Sans_ didn't.

"I woke up here the way we are now," Sans continued, although his voice a tad quieter now. "I... think it's our tool shed? But somewhat different."

At that Papyrus began to look around a bit. Yea, he could easily tell why Sans would think it's their tool shed. The building seemed the same, it even had the section used as cell for possible human intruders, and the few shelves used to keep their tools. Except the tools were replaced with different tools which Papyrus couldn't even _begin_ to imagine what they were for, and felt like he didn't _want_ to either. And the bars of their cell where replaced with a criss-crossed net of cyan magic. Fact was, the two of them were trapped behind said magic.

"stars, this is bad," Papyrus muttered to himself. He didn't quite understand where he was, why he was there, what was going on, but he knew very well that he was _trapped_.

“H-Hey don’t worry, Papy,” Sans began worried, although it sounded a lot like he was also trying to convince himself. “What ever happened, it’s- it was… probably just a mix up, right? W-We’ve just got to wait until someone shows up and we’ll clear this all up!”

The way Sans looked up at Papyrus he could tell that he was desperately waiting for him to agree. Sans could hardly believe his own words. And neither could Papyrus. Monsters didn’t just trap and capture others like that. Didn’t lock them up or handcuff them. There was one monster prison in the capital, and it was rarely used. In the underground, crime was a rarity.

“yea,” he said anyways. “you’re right, bro. ‘fcourse you are.” He needed to reassure himself as much as he needed to reassure his brother. Because he didn’t know what he would do if they were _actually_ trapped.

Papyrus tried to teleport, but it didn’t work. He didn’t think it would, anyway. Not even an amateur would try to trap two monsters, let alone skeleton monsters, without some sort of magical restriction. He couldn’t tell how they did it, though. He couldn’t feel his magic getting drained, so it couldn’t be the cuffs. It felt more like it was being blocked off somewhere around his throat. Slowly Papyrus moved both of his cuffed together hands towards his neck, nudging a bit around the fabric of his hoodie, covering his collarbone. He felt something underneath it, quickly pushed it up.

“sans.”  
“Oh god.”  
“sans what is that?”  
Sans seemed hesitant. Instead of answering, he began to copy Papyrus’ movements, except undoing the knot of his bandanna as best as he could, letting it slip off. There was a black leather collar around his neck. Papyrus felt… uncomfortable.

“ _why_ would they…?”  
“ _I don’t know?_ ” Sans replied, his voice too high. “I don’t… think I _want_ to know.”  
Silently Papyrus agreed. At least he knew now what was blocking off his magic. He just wished they would’ve used a less… disturbing method for it.

They both shrieked startled, as the door of the ‘shed’ finally slammed open. From their angle, they couldn’t see yet who was approaching. But the voice Papyrus could hear chuckling deeply at their scared reaction sounded _all too familiar._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why but i really like the idea of papy with a portal gun now
> 
> also comments make my day


	2. Shadow The Hedgehog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to spite/humor people i am making it my personal mission to find the most ridiculous titles for every chapter in this fic even tho theres going to be close to no ridiculous fun in it  
> thank you all so far for the support omg!! i'm really happy about how many positive comments i already got?? even tho i just posted the first chapter so far (and well now the second)  
> you guys are amazing

“sans-!” Papyrus hissed out as he watched his little brother shuffle away from his spot close to the wall and instead crawled closer to the net of magic keeping them trapped, trying to get a peek on who had just entered the shed. From the way he craned his neck, though, it didn’t seem like the position seemed to help a lot in that matter. “get back here before-”  
“Well, well, well.”

Sans jumped away from the net again, as a loud, booming voice announced itself. The smaller skeleton stared at his brother perturbed for a moment, but all Papyrus could do was stare back at him with the same kind of shock and confusion.

They _knew_ that voice, Sans even more so than Papyrus. Granted, it sounded all kinds of wrong, starting already with the loud, confident volume of it. But they _knew_ it none the less. They knew the voice, they’d known the sound of that laugh, and to no ones surprise, they knew the figures that were slowly appearing from behind the corner.

They, too, looked all kinds of wrong. In a sick, twisted kind of way. In the kind of way that would’ve made him laugh wholeheartedly, if he weren’t currently handcuffed and captured in a place that apparently didn’t just _look_ like their tool shed, but most likely also _was_ their tool shed. A sick, twisted version of their tool shed.

It was like looking into a mirror, and the mirror showed you what Shadow The Hedgehog would look like if you were his Sonic counterpart. The mirror showed you what your Original Character probably looked like from back when you were 13. It showed you yourself, except with filed teeth and a menacing smile. There were easily visible cracks running along their skulls, but Papyrus could tell there were more, _far_ more cracks, just from the bit of their arms and hands showing past their clothing. Their black clothing, highlighted with red here and there, as if neither of them ever grew out of their edgy goth phase.

Papyrus wasn’t dumb. And neither was Sans. They’d assisted Gaster on projects here and there and while they never did any _scientific_ work themselves, they caught up on a thing or two. They knew more than the average monster, and one thing they knew, or well, heard of, was the existence of different universes. Parallel universes, or alternate universes, or maybe even distorted timelines. He wasn’t sure _what_ it was, but something along those lines. Because skeleton monsters weren’t exactly all over the place. And because skeleton monsters that looked _so much_ like themselves that looking at them made him feel almost sick, unable to comprehend the familiarity, was just nearly out of the question. Unless Sans and Papyrus apparently _both_ had twins that they didn’t know of.

“Look at what the cat dragged in,” the taller of the two menacing looking skeletons declared. Papyrus knew it was _him._ That his name would be Papyrus. But calling him Papyrus seemed… _wrong._ It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t feel that wrong. If he would’ve met another monster with his own name, it wouldn’t have felt this wrong. He would’ve joked about it, maybe given them a nickname to avoid confusion. Something like Papyrus 1 or Papyrus A. But everything about this situation was _so wrong,_ and while he _could_ explain it, _did_ understand it, some primal part inside him didn’t. And it didn’t _want_ to. Didn’t want to _accept_ this. There weren’t _supposed_ to be two Papyruses. Not like _this._ This was _wrong._

“E-Excuse me but… do we know you?” His brother began to stutter out. Papyrus shot him a surprised look. Sans looked exactly as uncomfortable as Papyrus was, but he was trying to keep up a polite smile. Of course he would. Of course he would still hope for the best, stick to the idea that this was all okay.

“heh, good question kid.” The other Sans, the scary looking one, spoke. Shadow Sans. Shans? _Chance?_ No. “’ve never seen a face as ugly as _yours_ around.” His voice was deep and dripping with sarcasm. It sounded just like Sans’, _his_ Sans’, but like he’d smoked a pack, or ten, of cigarettes too many.

“I- w-well-”  
“why are we here?” Papyrus interrupted his brother. He could tell Sans was just stumbling over his words, trying to find a way out here with kindness and politeness. But Sans had never been good working with sarcasm. “why the _hell_ are we handcuffed?”  
Sans swatted him slightly, as best as he could with his wrists locked together like that. “Don’t be rude!” He chided, but Papyrus couldn’t bring himself to take it to heart right now. Not if that version of Papyrus was looking them over as if he’d just found his meal for today.

“Because you stepped in my trap of course!” Trap? He must be talking of _whatever_ happened once they crossed that bridge where the gate should’ve been. “For, you see, my trap only ever reacts to magic it is not familiar with. All citizens of Snowdin are registered in it’s memory. Which must mean that you do not belong here!”  
“what the _fuck!?_ ” Papyrus spluttered out angrily. It wasn’t hard to tell these guys meant no good, so all that talk about it just being a mix up flew right out of the fucking window for him. He crawled on the floor a little until he was sitting protectively in front of his brother, shielding a bit more than half of him. Sans shifted to his side a little by himself, still wanting to see what was going on. But he easily got Papyrus’ intentions, and while the older skeleton _knew_ his brother would usually scold him more, tell him he wasn’t a baby, Sans was doing none of the likes right now. Whether that was to make himself or Papyrus feel safer was beyond him, he was just glad his brother _understood._

“what the hell is _wrong_ with you! you can’t just chain up and trap monsters because they don’t _live_ here!”  
“Oh I can,” his edgier version almost purred as he squatted down to get to Papyrus’ current level of height. “And I _did,_ obviously. You’re not very smart, are you?”  
His, the _evil_ one’s, not his own, brother let out an ugly snort at that.

“he’s _you_ bro, you know that?”  
“What the fuck are you trying to tell me with that?” The taller demanded, his voice quickly losing a good amount of the calmness it had.

“y’just called yerself dumb.”

There was fire in the taller’s eyes, Papyrus could almost see it _literally,_ but he seemed to smother it down quickly. “Well. We will talk about _that_ later.”

While Papyrus obviously missed the meaning behind those words, the edgy Sans didn’t seem to have the same problem as pearls of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“imsorryboss,” he muttered quickly under his breath, almost too low and too fast for any of them to hear. Maybe his brother even _hasn’t_ heard it, because he seemed to just continue like that was the case.

“As I have observed you are _obviously_ not from here. And I do not mean Snowdin.”  
“Papy, are we- are we actually in… you know??? A different universe?” Sans suddenly whispered quietly behind Papyrus’ back. “Are those… Are they _us?_ ”  
“seems like i-”  
“No more!” The scary skeleton growled down at the two of them, making both of the brothers flinch in surprise. “I hereby forbid you from speaking without my permission! _Both_ of you.”  
Sans let out a terrified squeak as a growl made it’s way up Papyrus throat. “you can’t forbid us to _speak_!” He barked at them. “who the fuck do you think you _are?_ what makes you think we’re gonna _listen_ to you!?”  
“Oh I’ll _make_ you listen soon enough.”  
Unfortunately, Papyrus couldn’t help but to fear the truth seeping from those words. He didn’t think, of course, that they could break his will _any_ easily. But he was scared. Scared of what they’d do. Scared of what would happen to them. Scared of what would happen to _Sans._

Speaking of Sans, Papyrus noticed him shifting uncomfortably on his spot, before raising his bound wrists to the air, the fingers of one of his hand spread up. All three of the skeletons were looking at him perturbed.

“What-” The edgy Papyrus began. “What the fuck is he doing???”  
“bro i think he’s raising his hand.”  
“What, like in elementary school???”  
“well, i mean, you did it in middle school too, but yea.”  
Evil Papyrus snapped his head back to Sans, making him almost jump a little. “Is this true?” He asked, and Sans gave a hesitant nod. “Well. Then speak!”  
Sans nodded again, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath to collect his voice. Papyrus noticed now how much his brother was shaking. How fucking terrified he must be.

“W-Will you… let us go?” He asked, his voice barely more than a squeak. Papyrus felt sick at the sound of it. Sick of anger and fear and hatred, because how _dare_ those two fuckers make his babybro feel like that.

Edgy evil Papyrus barked out a loud laugh. “Oh! Oh stars, did you _hear_ that Sans?”  
“sure did, boss.”  
“What a delight! What. A. Fucking. Delight. You think I’m gonna let you _go?_ After you _trespassed_ our- no, _my_ territory like that!” He laughed again. A sick, fake laugh that was clearly only meant to be intimidating and nothing else. “You fucking vermin should be lucky you’re _alive!_ Oh no. I’m not letting you go any time soon.”  
“you don’t gotta be an ass about it,” Papyrus grumbled under his breath. _Immediately_ Sans shot him a mortified glance and Papyrus could easily tell why. Even for someone with a skull as thick as his’ it shouldn’t be too hard to realize that _this_ situation was not one to joke around with. And Papyrus didn’t know why he’d said it, it just _happened._ It just slipped out of his mouth before he realized.

A big grin spread on edge Papyrus’ face. He held his hand, no, claws out into the air, as if waiting for someone to put something into it, as a bone shaped magic bullet appeared in his hand. Well, _distinctly_ bone shaped. It was more like a bone club, and one side of it was filed down to a sharp, pointy end. It was much larger than most magic bullet Papyrus had seen any monster’s use in his universe before, but then again, he’s also never heard of any monster using one as an _actual_ melee weapon before, rather than, well, a bullet. He could only think of one exception, being Captain Alphys.

But here he was, evil edge Papyrus, a bone club in the firm grip of his claws, leading it to block off a chunk of the net of magic for him to step through. Both Papyrus and Sans backed off immediately, as the menacing, tall skeleton was suddenly towering above them _so close_.

He pointed the pointy tip down, pushing it against the underside of Papyrus’ mandible, forcing him to look up at his captor. He could feel the magic burning into his bone at the parts where the club touched him. He was scared, no, _terrified_ , and he could tell the way Sans was violently trembling behind him. None the less, Papyrus held the other’s glare.

“Feisty, aren’t we?” The monster towering above him spoke, poking the tip of the bone a little into Papyrus’ throat. “Well, we’ll see what we can do about that bark of yours. Trust me, though, and I’m telling you this only because I have pity for you, considering you’re wearing my face, shamelessly as it be. You _won’t_ be able to manage long with _that_ attitude.” He moved the weapon away again, moving back to the magic to quickly make himself a way through. As soon as the bone club stopped disrupting the net, it fixed itself, leaving both Sans and Papyrus trapped again.

“Consider this a warning. I will _not_ go as light on you next time.” Edge Papyrus spoke, before placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder and walking towards the exit of the shed.

They waited for the noise of the door clicking shut, but the _second_ it did Sans broke down crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont worry i'll stop with the edgy evil scary menacing papyrus stuff soon  
> gonna give 'em all their respective nicknames


	3. The Radical Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a smaller chapter because i say so
> 
> next chapter's gonna be more interesting  
> (this one got kinda forced around the end, sorry)
> 
> also as mentioned as before, i changed the title (Previous: Welcome To My Special Hell) to Lorem Ipsum

God, it was painful to watch. His brother was just lying face-first on the ground, his locked together hands lying over his skull as his body shook with sobs and wails. He wanted to help him, cheer him up _so bad_ , but god. Papyrus hardly trusted himself to say _anything_ right now without bursting into tears himself.

This whole situation was fucked up and _sick._ He didn’t get why those versions of himself and his brother even _would_ hold them captive. What the fuck did they _gain_ from that? What kind of wicked place was this, was that sort of thing just _normal_ here?

He didn’t cry yet, though. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t, he was just as terrified as his brother was. But maybe it was because his system just worked differently than Sans’. Instead of letting all his emotions and fear turn into sorrow, turn into tears to cry them out, he turned them into anger. He was fucking _furious._ But Sans didn’t need someone ranting to him right now. Sans needed support, needed someone to maybe not lift him up, but at least be there for him.

So instead of crying or acting out in anger, Papyrus nudged Sans up until the smaller skeleton, without any protests, moved to sit back against the wall again. Papyrus sat down next to him, examining his brother’s expression. He was still sniffling, but had cried once Papyrus signaled him to move. Instead of sad he just looked distant and exhausted.

“i’m fucking sorry,” Papyrus muttered under his breath as he slid closer to Sans until the younger brother was resting his head on Papyrus’ shoulder. “’m sorry i brought you into this. i’m sorry you’re in this mess, _fuck._ ”  
“It isn’t your fault at all, Papyrus,” Sans told him quietly, but there was no enthusiasm in his voice anymore.  
“i know but… you don’t fucking _deserve_ this.”  
Sans made a noise of agreement, before pinching his eyes shut again and his body started shaking with sobs once more. Papyrus wished _so badly_ he wasn’t handcuffed right now. _Just_ so he could put an arm around Sans. Hold him close. Draw gentle circles over the flat of his hand to keep him as well as himself grounded.

But he couldn’t do any of that. Instead the best he could do was leaning his head against Sans’ as it was rested on his shoulder. It wasn’t as close as he wanted them to be right now, but it was _something._ They were _together_ at least. God, right. He hadn’t even _thought_ of that possibility before. They could’ve easily separated them and Sans would’ve been _alone._

“i’ve got you,” Papyrus found himself whispering into the small frame leaning against him. “i’ve got you. no matter what’ll happen, i’ll protect you.”  
“Papy don’t play _hero,_ ” Sans sobbed out pathetically, the statement surprising Papyrus. “ _Please_ don’t do anything reckless. Just- just- I- I’m _scared._ ”  
Papyrus swallowed. It was a… understandable worry for Sans to have. More often than not Papyrus just spoke faster than he thought. _Especially_ when he was upset. And he wanted to promise Sans he would keep his mouth shut. Wouldn’t sass them any more. Wouldn’t let out his ratty comments.

But he _couldn’t._ Because just thinking about him made him _furious._ He wasn’t sure how well he could keep himself back if they were actually _there_ again. If they were doing whatever the _heck_ they wanted to do with them, a thing Papyrus _really_ didn’t want to think about.

So instead he just said, “we’ll manage through this.”  
Sans seemed… well. He wasn’t complaining. But he also didn’t seem pleased with the answer. Then again, that could’ve easily just been from the fact that he was very well still a sobbing mess leaning against Papyrus.

“Can we-” He began, only to be interrupted by a sad hiccup. “C-Can we t-talk about something…? Anything? I just… I don’t want to think about this anymore. Not right now.”  
“of course,” the older brother sighed out immediately. Obviously, ignoring their problem wouldn’t be a good way to deal with it. But it was _a_ way. And right now it was their best option, since frankly they couldn’t really do anything else. There was hardly _anything_ in this cell, aside from a cheap looking dog bed, barely big enough for Papyrus alone. Sans could maybe fit. But either way, there was nothing they could use to escape. Their hands were bound, their magic blocked off enough so it couldn’t escape his body anymore, and the fence trapping them made out of blue magic which they couldn’t move through. Not without getting damage, which Papyrus couldn’t let happen to his brother’s 1 HP. Besides, he was fairly certain that even _if_ they got to the other side of the blue magic, the door would still be locked.

Papyrus realized that, even if they got out of _here_ , he had no idea how to get back to his universe. Even more shockingly he noticed that the portal gun was _gone._ It was supposed to be in his hoodie pocket, but the gun wasn’t exactly _small._ He would notice the weight, feel the shape pressing against him. But fact was, it didn’t. So the… _bastards_ had probably taken it.

Granted, he wouldn’t have expected any less.

“Why… why do you think we’re here?” Sans asked eventually, his voice weak and still a little shaky from crying. Usually Papyrus would’ve shrugged. He had hardly an idea, if he was being honest. But it wasn’t hard to realize the question was Sans attempt to somehow get a conversation going, so he couldn’t just not answer.

“something with the void for sure,” he muttered, although he was pretty sure Sans could’ve figured that out for himself. But right now he was mostly just talking for the sole purpose of _talking._ _Distracting._ “maybe it doesn’t travel through space rather than… the multiverse.”  
“But we’re moved objects through the void before!” Sans noted. “Remember that apple? We managed to move it from point A to point B. Well, dad did anyway.”  
“true. maybe it’s like… separated in pieces? like this part would be our universe, moving things through there would move it through our universe. and once we cross that border that leads to… _this_ hell, we land there? i’dunno bro. you know i quit college. dad would probably know.”

“He would…,” Sans muttered quietly. “Maybe he’ll find us.”  
“i’m sure he will,” Papyrus said optimistically and he could see Sans smiling at him. They knew, of course, that it was wishful thinking. Or maybe only Papyrus did. Maybe Gaster actually _will_ find them and save them. Nothing spoke against it, right? He would notice they were missing and at least do… _something._ But Papyrus was a pessimist by nature. He didn’t think Gaster would come and get them. The void was too unexplored for that, too confusing and large. Plus there was a good chance that he would just assume his sons had made it past the barrier and got killed my humans. And if that were the case, well… What even _would_ Gaster do in a situation like that?  
The situation wasn’t like that, though. So as small as it might seem to Papyrus, there was still a chance they would get saved. He had to hold on to that. Or on to _anything_ really.

Papyrus had to keep the conversation going. They’d been quiet for too long.

“did’ya see the way that sicko had held that bone? never seen something like that before.”  
“Alphys uses attacks like that,” Sans said, sounding tired, but relieved to be able to talk calmly again. “It’s rare though, she told me. It’s still offensive magic and hurts if she touches it.”  
“then why would she do that in first place…?” The taller asked. Unlike his brother, Papyrus had never really been into the whole fighting thing. He knew, of course, how to use his magic. Was pretty good at it, too. But he’s never really bothered to learn about how _other_ people used their magic. It just seemed unnecessary to him.

“You have better control over the attack like that than if you would use it as a bullet,” the younger explained. “Alphys says your body eventually gets used to holding your own magic and grows a stronger defense. It’ll still damage you, but less. Not a lot of monsters use that technique because it just hurts a lot at first, but it can actually grant you a big advantage.”

“did you ever do that…?” Papyrus questioned curiously. That seemed like a pretty radical way to fight, neglecting your own HP in order do have an advantage in the offensive.

“Alphys made me train it once or twice. Not without getting my HP over the maximum, of course. It’s, well… easier thanks to my gloves? But I don’t like it a lot.”  
Right, Edge Papyrus had worn gloves too. They had been pointy and red and probably made out of leather. If he would have to take a wild guess, Papyrus would assume they’d been thicker than Sans’, too. So the damage of his own attacks wouldn’t seep through as much when he held them.

“Why are you asking all this?” Sans asked, Papyrus gave a short shrug.

“curious, ‘s all,” he replied non-committal.

“Are you trying to figure them out…? To fight them?” He was surprised at the accusation, honestly. It _hadn’t_ been what he had in the back of his mind, but now that it was spoken out loud, it seemed like a good idea. To Papyrus at least, Sans didn’t seem to like it at all. “Please don’t… try anything reckless, Paps… I’m sure we can solve this _somehow_ peacefully.”  
His voice was still tired and weak, but somehow determined enough that Papyrus had trouble figuring out whether his brother was actually convinced by that or just trying to keep some positive facade up. It would be like him, though, to still manage to convince himself of that. That’s Sans for you.

“yea, you’re right,” Papyrus admitted, less because he agreed with him rather than just because he preferred his brother’s honest optimism over, well. Him being terrified and scared.

They continued to talk like this over this and that, things that didn’t matter, for quite a while. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do. All they could do was talk and wait for something to happen, and thus they did.


End file.
